Torn Between Two Worlds
by Narurama1995
Summary: Zoro has been unknowingly raping Luffy at night. Everyone on board notice that Luffy starts acting a little different. They question him, but he keeps saying there's nothing wrong. Will Luffy confess? Will the crew find out? Or will Zoro realize that he is the cause of their captain's changes? NON-CON, ZoLu
1. Chapter 1

**I know I still have unfinished stories and I have worked on them but I recently started watching One Piece and immediately became addicted. Now I'm stuck with a bunch of OP ideas and just had to write it down. :D**

Summary: Zoro has been unknowingly raping Luffy at night. Everyone on board notice that Luffy starts acting a little different. They question him, but he keeps saying there's nothing wrong. Will Luffy confess? Will the crew find out? Or will Zoro realize that he is the cause of their captain's changes?

Warning: yaoi (boy x boy); non-con; pretty graphic sex scenes (DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ!)

_I do not own One Piece; if I did I would change the drawing style back to how it used to be in the beginning. (XD)_

It didn't hurt. It never did. That didn't mean he liked it though. He didn't like it at all. He found it disturbing. The movements, the sounds and most of all the way it felt. Like I said, there was no pain, but that didn't make the experience any less uncomfortable for Luffy. He could feel every single touch, every single thrust from his first mate. He could feel his bottom being forcefully stretched over and over again. Luffy had his face turned away from the green haired swordsman who was plunging into him like a madman. Luffy couldn't help but be glad that he was a rubber man.  
>The way Zoro was slamming into him right now would make any normal man incapable of walking for at least a week. Thanks to his devil fruit abilities Luffy was incredibly flexible and that was a good thing in this situation. The way Zoro was forcing his legs apart would have caused some serious damage if Luffy had been normal. His roaming hands would have left bruises all over his body, the force he used when gripping one of Luffy's thin wrists or ankles would have broken his bones.<br>Unfortunately his resilient body couldn't save him from everything. Sometimes the swordsman would scratch him, bite him or leave hickeys. Fortunately Zoro rarely felt the need to mark his captain. He had bitten him once, had left some hickeys here and there, luckily never in a place that couldn't be hidden, and had once, during a pretty strong orgasm, scratched Luffy's back, leaving four thin red lines on the smaller boy's flawless skin. And even though the stretching didn't bother Luffy, the heat did. Zoro never went easy on him, always fucking him like an enraged, rabid animal. This caused a lot of friction in Luffy's ass and that friction caused an unbearable and very uncomfortable heat to spread inside of him.

Suddenly a loud moan escaped Zoro's mouth and his movements stilled. Luffy squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the disgusting and by-now-familiar warm liquid being spilled inside of him. He couldn't get used to that feeling. Especially when it started to leak out of him. It felt too weird, too foreign.  
>Zoro crashed down on top of Luffy, his heavy and buff body pushing the frail looking, smaller boy into the matrass. Luffy could feel the other's heavy panting in his neck, his racing heart against his chest.<br>Luffy opened his eyes, once again staring at the wall to his right. He wished, hoped, begged in his mind that it was over and that the swordsman would leave and return to his own bed.

Of course Luffy knew better. One round didn't satisfy his first mate. It never did.

And as if Zoro could read his mind, he stirred. Luffy could feel the other getting hard again, still buried deep inside his body. Zoro pulled out of Luffy, straightening up. He sat on his knees, his glazed over eyes looking at the small boy in front of him. The sight pleased him and a devilish grin adorned his features. He grabbed the thin ankles and pulled Luffy's bottom on his lap. He then moved his hands from the ankles to Luffy's knees and pushed until they hit the matrass. Luffy's eye contact with the dark wall was broken, instead staring at one of his knees being pushed into the matrass. His other knee being held down on the other side of his head. Zoro's hands never leaving their spot, he rose to his feet, leaning over Luffy's bent form and slammed into the boy mercilessly. All of Zoro's weight pushed down on Luffy, forcing the latter's body to bend even more. Any normal person would be in serious pain, probably breaking their back or neck, but the position didn't really bother Luffy. Zoro suddenly stopped moving, buried inside of Luffy up to the hilt and started pushing Luffy even further down. At that point Luffy was bent so far, he could even give himself a blowjob. Apparently Zoro figured that out too and thought it would be amusing to have Luffy suck himself off. Luffy, his head still turned to the right, felt Zoro's fingers on his scalp, grabbing a fistful of pitch black hair and yanking on it, forcing him to face his first mate. Luffy tried to turn his head away again, but Zoro wouldn't let him, using his other hand to force Luffy's mouth open. Before Luffy could fully register what was going on, something soft and salty forced its way into his mouth. He quickly realized that it was his own limp dick that was invading his mouth. Luffy lifted his arms off of his bed and tried pushing his own lower half away from his face. Zoro quickly intervened grabbing his wrists and forcing them over the rubber boy's head. He once again started slamming into the poor boy at a rapid pace. Every thrust pushed Luffy's dick deeper into his own mouth, the tip hitting the back of his throat. Luffy had to fight hard to keep himself from throwing up. This was the most disgusting and disturbing thing that had ever happened to him and as much as he wanted to hold on to his pride, he couldn't stop the tears from escaping his eye sockets. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to imagine he was somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Luckily Zoro didn't last very long. He emptied himself again inside of Luffy, pulling his limp dick out of the other's abused ass and immediately left the young captain's bed, heading back to his own. Luffy finally rolled out of the awkward position, his own dick finally leaving his mouth. He was panting, tears kept running down his temples and into his ears or onto his pillow. He waited, listening, patiently. His breathing slowed down, same with his heartbeat, until his first mate's snores finally reached his ears. Luffy quickly and quietly jumped out of his bed, his feet already knowing the way to the bathroom.  
>He walked straight into the shower, turning on the water. The warm water was soothing and had a calming effect on him. After about ten minutes of just standing under the falling water he finally stopped crying and began to wash his unharmed body. He put two fingers up his ass and let the only evidence of tonight's events leak out of his body. He was starting to get used to this. This was the third time this week (and ever) that Zoro had invaded his bed and his sleep to force his primal desires onto Luffy. The first time it happened, Luffy had woken up in the middle of the night, finding his first mate and precious nakama slamming into him. Luffy had tried to fight back but a hand had been slapped over his mouth and his arms restrained above his head. Zoro had raped him four times that night. Two days later it happened again. Luffy was a deep sleeper and during the second time he once again had woken up when Zoro was already inside of him, taking advantage of him. That night he had raped him six times. Luffy hadn't tried to fight back that night and there was a reason for that. Zoro didn't know he was doing all those things to Luffy. Luffy knew that because after the first time the captain had confronted Zoro about it, receiving a response he hadn't expected.<p>

- _flashback_ -

_Everyone ( Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji, Robin and Luffy) was already sitting around the table on the Going Merry eating their delicious breakfast, when Zoro walked into the kitchen. As always he was the last to arrive and sat down in his usual seat on Luffy's right side. The latter slightly tensed when Zoro sat down, glancing at the green haired man. Zoro suddenly looked Luffy in the eye, Luffy could feel his heart skip a beat and for a moment he forgot how to breathe until Zoro's calm and completely normal voice reached his ears.  
>"Mornin'."<br>Luffy blinked a few times, just staring at Zoro, not understanding why he was acting so normal.  
>Zoro frowned at Luffy's somewhat strange reaction.<br>"Something wrong?"  
>Luffy blinked a few times again, before finally shaking his head. "No. Nothing really, just …"<br>Chopper, who was sitting on Luffy's left side, as a doctor became interested in their conversation once he'd heard Zoro's question earlier, and was now looking at Luffy. Luffy was staring at his plate, not really knowing what to say. He was incredibly confused to say the least. Zoro was acting as if nothing had happened last night. He was acting as if he hadn't used the captain as a rag doll and hadn't fucked the innocence out of him. Zoro's voice made him look up again and lock eyes with his first mate.  
>"Just what?"<br>Luffy was a little upset that Zoro was pretending as if nothing had happened. He wanted to know why he had done something like that and decided to give it to him straight.  
>"Why did you do that last night?"<br>Zoro's answer and inquisitive face almost knocked Luffy off of his chair.  
>"Do what?"<br>Luffy was baffled. Not only by what the swordsman just said but also by his face. There wasn't a single trace of deception on the other's face. Luffy immediately believed his first mate, he knew right away that Zoro was telling the truth or at least believed that what he was saying was the truth.  
>Zoro waved his hand in front of Luffy's face, who was completely caught up in his thoughts. Luffy refocused on his green haired nakama who was starting to look a little worried.<br>"Did I do something? Luffy?"  
>Luffy could hear the uncertainty and the worry in Zoro's voice. He could see it in Zoro's eyes. The fear of having done something bad to one of his nakama.<br>Luffy smiled at him. He didn't want to burden Zoro with a crime he didn't even know he committed. The young pirate usually was a horrible liar and he even surprised himself at how easy the lie flowed from his lips.  
>"Nah, you kinda came to my bed last night and sat down for a while. I tried talking to you but you didn't even answer or anything. And after like five minutes or something you just left and went back to sleep."<br>The captain could see the obvious relief in Zoro's eyes, followed by confusion.  
>"Weird. I don't really remember doing anything like that."<br>Chopper, who had listened to their conversation, decided to join in.  
>"You probably sleepwalked."<br>Zoro looked at Chopper now, frowning at his comment. Chopper continued.  
>"It happens. When you're stressed or sleep deprived. Have you ever sleepwalked before?"<br>The swordsman shook his head.  
>"Not for as far as I know."<br>Suddenly Sanji appeared out of nowhere, having heard the sleepwalking part.  
>"Fuckin' Marimo, probably got lost in his sleep."<br>Zoro aimed his fork at the cook and threw it at him. Sanji raised the tray he was holding, unfazed, as the fork bounced off of the tray and onto the ground.  
>Zoro didn't give Sanji a retort and the blond had already lost interest, too caught up in admiring Nami's ass as she walked out of the kitchen. Luffy just smiled, looking at all his lively and happy nakama. He wouldn't dare nor ever want to break this peace. He decided to keep everything that happened between him and Zoro a secret. He believed it would only do harm if he told all of them now.<br>It would definitely hurt Zoro.  
>He pushed the previous night into the deepest recess of his mind and his heart and finally dug into his food the way only Luffy could, pushing everything in sight into his mouth. Hearing but not registering the complaints of his nakama as he stretched his arms and stole their food. All of it disappearing into the black hole that was his stomach.<em>

He had bounced right back to his old self.

He had managed to bounce back after Zoro's second visit as well_._

What about now?

**A/N: Well, glad I got that out of my system. Let me know what you thought and felt. This will be continued, Probably in about a week or something you can expect a new chap. ;D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hay, me again. I updated a lot later than I'd ever have expected. I'm really sorry about that.  
>I have this rule where I always write chaps of at least 4,000 words but the first chap of this story wasn't that long, so to make up for it, here is an extra-long chap. Have fun readin'! XD<strong>

**Warning: sexual (sometimes rather graphic) content; NON-CON; yaoi **

_I do not own One Piece, if I did I wouldn't have killed Ace (RIP :'-()_

Zoro didn't remember. He never did. He didn't remember how he'd forced Luffy's body into the most awkward positions, last night. He didn't remember how he'd forced himself between Luffy's legs over and over again, three nights ago. And he didn't remember how he'd forcibly taken Luffy's virginity, five nights ago. He didn't know that he was the cause of his captain's sleepless nights. He didn't realize he was the reason for the young pirate's changes, however small they might be.

Zoro noticed it though. He noticed Luffy had become somewhat quieter. Calmer.  
>He noticed that his captain spent more time alone than he did in the past. That he wasn't as cheerful as he used to be, and that his smiles didn't seem to be as wide as they once were.<br>Everyone on board had noticed the subtle, but still noticeable, changes in their captain.  
>Yesterday Chopper had asked Luffy if he wasn't feeling well, during dinner, but the rubber boy had told them he was just a little tired. That he hadn't been sleeping well the last few days because of nightmares. They had asked him about the bad dreams, but Luffy had told them he didn't really feel like talking about it, that it wasn't anything serious and that they really didn't have to worry about him. He had told them that he was fine.<br>Once again, Luffy had been amazed at how easily he could lie to his nakama.

He wasn't feeling fine anymore, not after the previous night. Luffy felt lost, torn and most of all, dirty. He had brushed his teeth three times this morning but he could still taste his own flesh in his mouth. His bottom felt a little bit sore, it seems that even a rubber body couldn't take the endless amount of abuse. The worst wasn't the pain though, or even the memories, it was that Luffy found it the longer the harder to face his first mate. Whenever they locked eyes his heart would skip a beat. He would look away as fast as possible, after giving the swordsman as bright a smile as he could manage. He didn't want Zoro to start thinking Luffy was avoiding him or something like that. Even if he sort of was.

Even now, as Luffy was hanging over the railing of the Merry; staring at the vast ocean beneath him, he was painfully aware of the green-haired swordsman, dozing off on the other side of the deck. He was always aware of Zoro, it almost seemed as if he had a built in Zoro-radar. Wherever he was on the tiny ship, Luffy could always sort of sense the other's presence.  
>Luffy was mesmerized by the blue, shimmering water, moving against the ship in a calming rhythm.<p>

He had always loved the ocean, even if it was deadly for him.

Luffy was so lost in thought, he couldn't hear the light footsteps that were approaching him. He was so hypnotized by the unclear, salty water, he couldn't hear the voice calling out his name. Not the first time, nor the second. The third time, sound finally reached the captain's ears, and he was shocked out of the ocean's spell.  
>"Luffy!"<br>Luffy's somewhat glazed over eyes, looked to his left, the direction the voice had come from.  
>It was Sanji.<br>He seemed a little mad and concerned. Luffy could see the worry and uncertainty in his eyes. It was quickly replaced with uncaring, even cold eyes. Sanji was putting up a cool front again. Like he didn't want people to see that he actually cared for someone who wasn't female and large-breasted.  
>"Are you trying to kill yourself?"<br>Luffy certainly didn't miss the playfulness in Sanji's tone, as the other pretended not to care, putting a cigarette between his lips and lighting it, before putting his hands in the pockets of his black pants and leaning against the ship's railing. Luffy still didn't understand the question though.  
>"Huh?"<p>

Sanji turned his head towards him, his face not giving way to any kind of emotion.  
>"You kept leaning farther and farther over the railing. A few more minutes and you would've fallen in."<br>Luffy frowned. He had unconsciously leaned toward the ocean. Why would he do that?  
>The young pirate looked at Sanji and gave him the biggest and brightest smile he could muster.<br>"Ah sorry, I didn't notice."  
>Sanji's face didn't change, not even the slightest twitch, as he made Luffy's smile falter.<br>"Don't do that."

Luffy stared at him, the remnants of his forced smile long forgotten.

"Don't do what?"  
>Sanji took his sweet time before answering. Taking a long and deep haul from his cigarette, holding it in and poisoning his longs for some time until he finally released a cloud of whitish, foul smoke.<br>He glanced at Luffy with a stoic expression plastered to his face.  
>"Don't smile as if there's nothing wrong."<p>

Luffy stared at him, the remnants of his forced smile long gone.

He took a deep breath and let out an audible sigh as he redirected his gaze back to the mysterious world beneath him.  
>"You aren't fooling anyone, captain. We can all see that you're forcing yourself to smile. It's disturbing. Every time I look at you it seems as if more light has disappeared from your eyes. It's as if every time you force yourself to smile, a piece of you dies."<br>Even Sanji couldn't keep his indifferent mask in place, his eyes showing his obvious distress and anxiousness.  
>Luffy appreciated his concern on one hand but he was also extremely irritated. It wasn't Sanji's fault really, the lack of sleep was starting to get to the straw hat, making him overly irritable and somewhat cranky.<p>

"Well, what do you want me to do? Walking around being depressed all the time, crying my eyes out?"  
>Luffy was surprised at his own tone. He had never raised his voice against any of his nakama. He immediately felt bad, letting out a shaky sigh, covering his eyes with his left hand as he was still leaning a little over the railing.<br>Sanji frowned, his long forgotten cigarette dying out between his lean fingers. Sanji's face contorted into one of pain, worry and sadness. He took a step closer to his captain, still leaning against the railing with his back. He took a deep breath and gave Luffy his best comforting smile.  
>"I just want you talk to us Luffy. I mean, we are your friends, your nakama, aren't we?"<p>

Sanji glanced at his feet before looking back at Luffy's hunched over form.  
>"Don't you trust us?"<br>Luffy flinched, it almost felt like he just got stabbed in the heart. He frowned, lifting his face from his hand and looked at Sanji.  
>At his turn Sanji could feel a jab in his chest seeing the hurt look in his young captain's eyes.<br>"It's not that I don't trust you guys. I do. I really do. There's almost no one that I trust more than you all. I just …"

Luffy lightly shook his head, staring at a button on Sanji's perfectly clean, pinkish shirt.  
>"I just can't talk about it."<br>He glanced up and met a blue eye looking down at him.  
>"It's not you. It's not because it's you that I can't talk about it. I just really don't want to talk about it, to anyone. Not right now."<br>Luffy swallowed unnecessarily. Gazing down at the ocean, but not really seeing it. He could hear Sanji release a deep breath.  
>"Would you at least tell me what you're feeling?"<p>

Luffy frowned lightly, turning his head in the cook's direction. Sanji smiled a tiny, crooked smile seeing the confused look on his captain's face.  
>"I mean, I understand that you don't want to talk about what is bothering you. I'm not asking you to. But I do know, from my own experience, that talking about your feelings, your emotions, does help take some of that weight of your shoulders. So I don't want you to tell me what you're going through, I just want you to tell me what you <em>feel<em>."  
>Sanji turned around, leaning on the wooden railing with his underarms, fingers entwined.<br>"Well, that is if you _want_ to talk about it."

The blond looked to his right, meeting Luffy's eyes which were staring in the direction of Sanji's arms. Luffy thought about it. He hadn't really thought about how this whole situation made him feel. Without realizing it he started voicing out his feelings.  
>"I'm just so confused. I don't know what to do. I'm torn between keeping this all to myself and just suffer through it, or actually telling you guys and hurting someone else."<br>Sanji frowned, now _he_ was confused. Luffy appeared to be on the verge of crying and Sanji could see the hopelessness and desperation in the rubber boy's eyes.  
>"So you're telling me that right now you're suffering through something, but you can't tell anyone because if you do you'd make someone else suffer."<br>Luffy glanced at the horizon, and nodded. The captain didn't talk anymore after that and Sanji had no idea what to say. He knew that the other needed help, but he could also tell by looking at his face that he shouldn't press the matter any further at that moment. Sanji decided to throw in the towel. For now.  
>"Okay, well. If you ever do feel like talking about it…."<br>The cook patted the captain's shoulder, offering him a reassuring smile.  
>"… you know where to find me."<br>Sanji's face softened unnoticeably as Luffy smiled back at him. It might have been the smallest smile ever, but at least this one was genuine.

Sanji strode off, lighting a new cancer stick as he headed to the kitchen to start preparing lunch. They'd had quite a feast last night, stuffing themselves with the Sea King Zoro had taken down that morning and there were still a lot of left overs that needed to be eaten. If there was one thing Sanji hated it was letting food go to waste. He had chopped that giant fish up and had put as much as he could in the freezers and in storage, the rest had been put on table the previous evening. On this ship food usually never had the chance to go bad with Luffy's stomach being a bottomless pit.

The last few days the captain hadn't really had much of an appetite. He never sneaked into the kitchen to raid the fridge anymore either. He used to do that every night. Sanji used to hate it. Now he would love for Luffy to raid his fridge. The blond sighed as he stopped in front of the kitchen counter. He rolled up his sleeves, grabbed one of his razor-sharp kitchen knives and started cutting up vegetables and meat at an incredibly rapid pace.

He pushed his conversation with Luffy to the back of his mind, completely focusing on making a delicious meal for his nakama. He distracted himself with thinking about Nami and Robin and all the tasty dishes he could make for the two most mesmerizing creatures in the world. Not much later a soft voice, and one of the most beautiful sounds Sanji had ever heard, demanded his attention.

"Sanji-kun"  
>Sanji recognized that melodious voice right away, turning around to meet Nami's big brown eyes.<br>"AH Nami-san, you look beautiful as always."  
>Nami gave the blond a small, but sincere smile, before giving him a serious and worried expression.<br>"Hey Sanji-kun you talked to Luffy just now right. Did he say anything?"  
>Sanji immediately put on his own serious face, laying the large kitchen knife down.<br>"Euhm, not really. Whatever it is that's bothering him, he's not yet ready to share it with us. I told him to come see me if he ever felt the need to talk about it."  
>Sanji's gaze had wandered to the ground, staring at his shoes but at the same time not really seeing them.<br>"I think it's best that we be patient and wait 'till he's ready to discuss it with us. Seeing he doesn't really seem to like the constant questioning."  
>Nami sighed and looked down at her locked hands. Sanji couldn't see her expression, hidden behind her ginger bangs, but he was sure it was one of compassion and worry for their captain.<br>"Yeah, you're probably right."

Nami looked back up and gave Sanji a small, sad smile that went straight to Sanji's women-loving heart.  
>"I really want to help him, but we probably shouldn't push him too much. I'll go tell the rest."<br>The young woman turned around and left the kitchen. The door fell shut behind her and Sanji was once again alone in the small kitchen. He sighed and turned back toward the kitchen counter. The conversation between him and the captain came rushing back to him, along with the worry and anxiousness. Sanji took a deep breath, grabbed the oversized knife again and continued chopping up some fish. He had finally made a decision.

Luffy was playing a cart game with Chopper, Usopp and Zoro, who had been dragged into the game against his will by Usopp. Luffy didn't get the game at all. The rules were so complicated, it didn't make sense. Luffy was frowning as he stared at the 11 cards in his hands. Usopp explained the rules over and over again, but it never became any clearer in Luffy's eyes. The long-nosed boy was aiding Zoro who was just as lost as Luffy. Though in his case the cause was mostly disinterest in the game, while Luffy was too impatient to play and therefore never really listened to the rules of the game. It was something about throwing in the highest card and then you'd win. There was a three and a five of hearts, Luffy threw in a queen of spades, yelling that it was the highest so he wins. Zoro just frowned at his cards, Usopp started screaming at Luffy, something about having to throw in a card of the same suit. Chopper's childlike voice was preaching to Luffy as well, once again frying the captain's brain with rules. Luffy gave them a confused and playfully irritated face, whining a little.  
>Sanji's sudden appearance, informing them that the food was ready, made all of them throw down the cards and head for the kitchen.<br>Luffy sprinted and jumped into his usual seat. It didn't even take a second or he was already stuffing his face with food. The rest quickly followed because they knew that if they waited too long there wouldn't be anything left for them to eat. As usual the kitchen was bustling with life and noise when food was served. Sanji couldn't stop the tiny smile from adorning his face for a single instant, before putting his fake strict face back on, yelling at Luffy and slapping the elongated arms away from Nami's and Robin's plates.

Within 15 minutes all the food had disappeared and Luffy's stomach had become about three times as big. Looking content he slouched in his seat, closing his eyes. He had barely slept the last few days, and he finally felt just how tired he really was. Luffy could feel the long awaited and much needed darkness creep up on him. It was pointless to fight it, it would end up being a losing fight anyways, and Luffy didn't even feel like fighting it either. He completely surrendered to the soothing blackness and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. Zoro was half listening to the conversation between Chopper and Usopp, as the latter was telling one of his many very dangerous, and above all very fake adventures. He was gloating, nose high in the sky, enjoying the undivided attention that the small reindeer was giving him. Zoro saw some movement in the corner of his eye and instinctively glanced to his left. His captain's body was completely relaxed, his head hanging forward so his black bangs covered his closed eyes. He was rapidly sliding sideways, seconds away from kissing the wooden floor. Zoro quickly shot out his left arm and managed to catch the sleeping boy just in time. His strong arm and firm grip on Luffy's thin upper arm kept the rubber boy in place. He gazed back toward the rest and coincidentally made eye contact with Nami. The ginger head's eyes shifted from Zoro to the unconscious captain leaning against Zoro's outstretched arm. Concern was evident in her eyes as she shot out of her chair and strode towards the duo at the end of the table. She kneeled next to Luffy's buckled form, lightly touching his arm, and locked eyes with Zoro. The rest was also staring at their captain, coming closer with uneasiness written all over their faces. Nami's voice was tinged with anxiety as she addressed the swordsman.  
>"What happened?"<br>Zoro looked at her and was about to tell her when the silence in the room was suddenly disturbed by a soft and barely audible snore. All eyes went back to Luffy seeing that the sound had come from him. Zoro found it necessary to state the obvious.  
>"It seems he fell asleep."<br>They sighed in chorus, and the tension in the room quickly dissipated. Chopper's high pitched voice called their attention.  
>"He did say yesterday, during dinner, that he hadn't been sleeping much because of nightmares. He must have been exhausted." Some of them nodded, remembering the previous evening.<p>

Sanji walked up to Zoro and addressed him, even though he never actually looked at the swordsman.  
>"You should take him to his room and put him in his bed."<br>Zoro didn't disagree with the cook and he didn't mind taking the captain to their room. The swordsman rose to his feet, shifted his left arm so it was behind Luffy's back and placed his other arm under the other's knees. He scooped him into his arms with ease and carried him to their shared room bridal style. He left him in his bed, and returned to the kitchen. Robin, Chopper and Nami had left already and Usopp was helping Sanji to gather all the plates. Luffy was supposed to do the dishes today, but since he was out cold, Zoro took his place. Usopp left the kitchen after mopping up the mess on the table, leaving Sanji and Zoro to do the dishes. The two never said a word as the cook cleaned the plates and cutlery under water and Zoro dried it with a towel. Once it was done they both left the kitchen, Zoro went to the back of the Merry to train with his weights and Sanji was lingering around the two sunbathing women, serving to their every whim.

The day went by in a flash. Everyone went to their rooms, Sanji stayed behind in the kitchen. He had night duty tonight. Sanji started his round after about half an hour. He first checked all the rooms, everyone was fast asleep, and then made some rounds around the deck. He crashed down in one of the chairs, relaxed a little and just stared out into the endless unmoving ocean.

The blackness was leaving. Luffy didn't like it, real life was starting to pull him back out of the blessed darkness. His eyes opened slowly and met a dark wall that just wouldn't stand still. Luffy's drowsy brain was starting to catch up to his senses, realizing that it wasn't the wall that was moving, but he himself. And suddenly he was attacked by all the sounds and sensations. Zoro had come to his bed again. Luffy was a little surprised he had, usually he skipped one night before visiting the captain's bed. The rubber boy was amazed to realize that it didn't disturb him as much as it should. The sound of Zoro's flesh slamming into his, the squelching sound, the feeling of Zoro's dick invading his body. None of it bothered Luffy anymore. He still didn't enjoy it, but he wasn't disgusted by it either. The swordsman wasn't going very fast this night and slid in and out easily. Luffy barely felt it, the friction was absent, which meant his first mate had probably already come inside him once or twice. Make that three times, as Zoro grunted and his movements stilled. He hovered over Luffy, leaning on his arms, still buried deep inside the other, panting softly. Luffy waited patiently, lying completely still. It didn't take long or Zoro pushed his legs back and was plunging into him once again. Luffy was staring at the ceiling, his eyes wandering everywhere. Zoro bent forward and suddenly kissed the captain, pushing his tongue in the other's mouth. Luffy startled, lifting his arms, pushing against the swordsman's chest. Zoro grabbed his wrists and held them over Luffy's head. He kept violating his mouth, and kept slamming into the smaller boy.

Suddenly he was gone.

A loud bang immediately followed, as Zoro slammed into the far off wall, then slid to the ground.  
>Luffy looked to his right, and there stood Sanji, his right leg still slightly lifted. Sanji had kicked the swordsman off of the captain. Luffy glanced back at Zoro, who was slowly beginning to stir. Luffy grabbed his blanket and covered his lower half, then he grasped Sanji's wrists and pulled him to the ground. Sanji wanted to protest but Luffy looked at him, his index finger over his lips, signaling the cook to be quiet. Sanji frowned, but listened anyways, lying on his side. Zoro moaned and grunted as he sat up. His dazed and very confused eyes looked back at Luffy, who was quietly staring at him.<br>"What the fuck happened?"  
>Luffy sighed shortly, it was the real Zoro again.<br>"I don't know. I woke up because of this loud bang. Maybe you just fell out of bed?"  
>Zoro stood up, rubbing his side that for some reason hurt like hell. He slowly shuffled back to his bed and crashed down into it.<br>"Well, G'night….. again."  
>"Yeah"<p>

Sanji slowly sat up, his left arm leaning on Luffy's bed, and stared in absolute disbelief at Zoro's already snoring form. His eyes shifted to Luffy's face, who was looking at Sanji as well. Sanji opened his mouth to say something but Luffy held up one of his hands and shook his head, shutting the other up again.  
>"Go wait on deck, I'll be right there."<br>Sanji blinked a few times, and wanted to protest but Luffy's serious and even stern face kept him from doing so. He stood up and walked to the door. He shot one glance over his shoulder and then left the room, walking towards the deck.

Luffy got out of his bed and quickly made his way to the bathroom. Cum was rapidly leaking out of him, making Luffy shiver in disgust. He took a quick shower, cleaning and emptying himself. After that he returned to his room, put on one of his many blue shorts and a simple red t shirt. He took a deep breath and dragged himself towards the deck.  
>He opened the door and saw Sanji pacing back and forth. Their eyes met, Sanji stopped moving, Luffy approached him. The captain walked past the blond, and sat down on the stairs. Sanji quietly followed the smaller boy, he didn't sit down, he stood in front of Luffy with his hands buried in his pockets. They were both silent for what seemed like hours, but were mere minutes. Luffy was fidgeting with his hands, staring down at them, while Sanji was still dealing with everything he'd seen.<br>He had no idea what to say. He would never have imagined that something like this was going on on their ship. When he decided to go check on Luffy, he expected to maybe find a distressed captain, who had woken up from a bad dream. He had hoped to just find a peacefully sleeping captain.  
>He hadn't been prepared for the reality.<br>Never had it crossed his mind that he would walk into that bedroom finding their green-haired swordsman raping their somewhat naïve captain.  
>He definitely hadn't been prepared to see so much naked flesh covered in sweat and other stuff.<br>He hadn't been prepared to see Luffy's tiny body underneath that pile of muscle.

Sanji screwed his eyes shut, slightly shaking his head, trying to push the disturbing image as far to the back of his mind as possible. He looked back at Luffy, taking a deep breath, ready to confront the quiet teen.  
>"Zoro is raping you."<br>Luffy slightly flinched when the uncomfortable silence was suddenly broken by Sanji's soft voice. He looked up at the young cook, and nodded, shifting his eyes back to his hands.  
>Sanji then started voicing out all of his questions, and Luffy quietly answered all of them.<br>"How long has this been going on?"  
>"Almost a week."<br>"This happens every night?"  
>"No, not really."<br>"Okay, so how often has this happened then?"  
>"Tonight was the fourth time."<br>"Why didn't you just tell us?"  
>"Because then Zoro would be hurt."<br>"Huh? How?"  
>"He doesn't remember. He never remembers."<br>Sanji remembered how Zoro had acted after he'd kicked him into the wall. It almost seemed as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. As if he snapped out of a trance or something.

Luffy continued talking.  
>"I didn't think it would do any of us any good if I told everyone. Zoro would probably feel bad, feel guilty for something he doesn't even remember doing. After the first time, I decided it would be best to just let it go, since Zoro didn't seem to remember anything. I figured it was a one-time-thing anyways. Especially when nothing happened the next night. But then the night after that he came back, and then two nights later again. And after yesterday night, I was starting to think that maybe I should tell someone, but then I changed my mind and…. I don't know, Sanji. I just didn't know what to do."<br>Luffy hid his face in his hands. He took some shaky breaths, waiting for Sanji to say something.  
>Sanji didn't wait long to speak his mind.<p>

"Isn't it painful though?"  
>The smaller teen lifted his head from his hands and gazed at Sanji. Luffy frowned a little and Sanji took it as confusion. He continued talking, explaining what exactly he means.<br>"I mean, I understand that by not saying anything you just wanted to protect Zoro. Well, he's an idiot and can be a real bastard sometimes, or …. most of the times, but even he wouldn't do something like this. One of his few good points is his protectiveness over his nakama, so he would never intentionally hurt one of us. If he knew that he has been hurting you, it would definitely crush him . So I'm just saying, I get why you were hiding it. But wasn't it difficult? Wasn't it painful?"  
>Luffy's frown still adorned his features. He got the feeling that Sanji was beating around the bush. He wasn't sure if the other was talking about his emotional or physical pain.<br>"Are you asking me whether the fucking itself hurts?"  
>Hearing Luffy say the word 'fucking' was shocking for Sanji. The blond always assumed that words such as 'fucking' didn't exist in their captain's dictionary.<br>"Well, yeah. It's just, … I slept with this older woman once and she was telling me about some of her wilder adventures in bed. She told me that she had tried anal sex with one of her previous boyfriends once, and that it really hurt, even though they were being careful and did all the necessary preparations."

Luffy nodded slowly, while staring at some point in the distance. He glanced back at Sanji.  
>"It doesn't hurt."<br>Sanji raised his eyebrows, then squinted his eyes.  
>"Not at all?"<br>Luffy gave Sanji the isn't-it-obvious face, accompanied by a small, crooked smile.

"Of course. I have a rubber body remember. Everything stretches."  
>Sanji's eyebrows almost flew off of his face. He couldn't think of anything intelligible to say, so he went with a simple: "Right."<br>Luffy averted his eyes, slightly turning his head to the side. He was hardly known as the type to be easily embarrassed, usually he was described as being rash and impulsive, so he wasn't going to start being bashful now.  
>"The sex hardly ever hurts. He rarely bites, and all the other harsh stuff, that would hurt a normal person, don't really hurt me."<br>Sanji was still slightly freaked out about the fact that Luffy was so casually talking about his sex life. Never, not once since meeting his slightly odd and hyperactive captain had he ever thought that one day he would be talking about sex with that cheerful and bouncy kid. His interest, however, was piqued.  
>"What do you mean when you say 'other harsh stuff'?"<br>Luffy simply shrugged, before answering.  
>"He likes pushing me in these weird positions. It would definitely hurt if I were normal. If my body wasn't rubber, he would surely break half my bones. He's not exactly the kind that enjoys gentle sex."<br>Sanji unnecessarily cleared his throat, and he couldn't help smirking a little bit.  
>"No I can't imagine that someone like Marimo would be the romantic kind."<br>The cook's comment made Luffy crack a smile, snort and nod sincerely.  
>"What kind of weird positions are we talking about here?"<br>Sanji's expression was playful, his smirk growing bigger. Luffy once again shrugged and began giving some examples with a matter-of-fact tone, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  
>"Like pushing my legs apart really far, bending my arms or upper body. Yesterday night, he …"<br>Luffy hesitated. This part made him feel a little uncomfortable and he was somewhat afraid of Sanji's reaction. He feared he would see disgust and revulsion in that blue eye. Sanji noticed that Luffy's aura changed a bit. He suddenly seemed uncertain and even a little fearful.  
>"Hey, it's fine Luffy. What happened isn't your fault, okay? What did he do?"<br>Luffy sighed. He hesitated at first, but seeing Sanji's curious and hopeful expression made him surrender.  
>"He…He put my…. my own thing in my mouth."<br>Luffy stared at his own hands in his lap, he didn't dare look at Sanji's face. He didn't see the other's dumbfounded expression, the big eyes, and his mouth wide open. Luffy glanced up at Sanji after the other's comment.  
>"You can do that?"<br>The dark-haired teen didn't see any disgust, only amazement and curiosity. He quickly nodded and added "Yeah. I'm … pretty flexible."  
>Sanji blinked a few times, slowly shook his head, until he finally closed his mouth.<br>"You, lucky bastard."  
>Now it was Luffy's turn to wear his dumbfounded expression. He had expected lots of different reactions but this was definitely not one of them. When Sanji saw Luffy's flabbergasted expression, he laughed softly.<br>"Do you have any idea how many guys have ever thought: 'Man, it would be awesome if I could blow myself.'?"  
>The captain frowned slightly, he didn't understand why anyone would actually <em>want<em> to put their own dick in their mouth.  
>"Why would you want that?"<br>Sanji put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.  
>"Well, lots of men are alone and get horny. To satisfy their needs they jerk off. But if you have to do that for months, or even years, you kind of get tired of it. A hand job is quick and easy, but it's not always satisfying. So you quickly start to desire some wet and hot mouth, and every womanless man will start fantasizing. 'If only…'."<br>Luffy was surprised to hear that. Though giving a blowjob, let alone giving himself one, had never crossed his mind before yesterday. In his eyes it had been gross and revolting.  
>"So…it's not disgusting, or weird?"<br>Sanji offered Luffy a sympathetic and at the same time reassuring smile, and shook his head.  
>"No, you might even be considered a hero among men. Sex is rarely disgusting Luffy, but it's no good if it gets forced upon you."<br>Luffy nodded. He was glad to hear that it wasn't strange, that he hadn't done something repulsive. Talking about all of it with Sanji was a huge relief. Luffy felt lighter again, sharing his burden with the cook. But even though the captain felt much better, there were still some unresolved issues.  
>"So, now what? I doubt Zoro is going to stop."<br>Sanji slowly nodded, wearing a thoughtful expression.  
>"Well, it <em>is <em> kind of weird that he doesn't remember anything afterwards. When he comes to your bed, does it look like he's in a trance, or like he's sleepwalking?"

"I doubt he's sleepwalking, his eyes are always open. Or can you sleepwalk with your eyes open?"  
>Sanji shrugged. "No idea."<br>"How does he behave when he 'wakes up' and comes to your bed?"  
>Luffy averted his eyes for a moment, biting his bottom lip.<br>"I don't know. By the time I wake up, he's already inside me."  
>Another shocking revelation made Sanji hang his head and sigh in defeat.<br>"You know, Luffy. I think it's best if you talked to him about this. I know it will be a lot to take in, but ultimately it would be what's best for the both of you. The longer you wait to tell the bastard, the harder it's going to hit him."  
>Luffy's face showed his pain, sorrow and doubts. He knew Sanji was right, but he was afraid. His reasons for being afraid weren't for Zoro's sake, but for his own. Sure, he didn't want his first mate to feel guilty, to blame himself for something he probably didn't have any control over. But that wasn't the main reason he was scared.<br>"I just don't want to lose him."  
>Sanji was heartbroken as he watched his captain sniff, silent tears sliding down his face. The blond's own face contorted with pain and sympathy for the smaller teen. He walked up to Luffy and crouched in front of him, gently placing his right hand on the other's shoulder.<br>"Why would you lose him?"  
>Luffy's teary eyes met Sanji's blue one for an instant before looking down at his own hands.<br>"Because … Zoro is the kind of guy who would leave us, so that he wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore. I don't want him to leave."

Sanji had to admit that there was definitely some truth to what Luffy just said. Zoro was the protective kind, and was especially protective when it came to Luffy. Sanji was sure he would give his own life in order to save Luffy. Zoro was both selfless and incredibly impulsive, a combination that has proven to be quite dangerous from time to time. Sanji remembered how the swordsman had once almost cut off his own feet in order to free himself and defeat his opponents. How he had been planning on defeating them without feet remains a mystery.  
>Knowing all that, it wasn't hard to imagine that he would leave this crew in order to protect their captain. Even Sanji realized that.<br>Telling Zoro about his nightly activities had its risks, but they couldn't do nothing. And Sanji believed that the marimo had the right to know.  
>"Just talk to him. Tell him not to make hasty decisions, that we will work this out together."<br>Luffy didn't react right away, he simply stayed quiet, sniffing occasionally, until he finally gave Sanji a quick nod.  
>"Okay, you should try and get some more sleep. You can take my bed. I have night duty anyways."<br>Luffy gave the cook a small smile and nodded again. Sanji rose to his feet, Luffy following suit, and walked back to the sleeping quarters. The blond waited 'till the young captain was in his bed, before leaving the room and wait in the hallway. It wasn't 'till after he could hear the faint snoring, that he walked away from the door and headed back to the deck. He leaned on the railing and stared at the black sea, the starry sky, the distant horizon. Now that he was alone, and it was so quiet and peaceful, his mind had the time to process everything he had seen and heard the last hour.  
>The blond let out a huge sigh.<p>

It was going to be long night.

**A/N: finished! This chap at least. Yeah later than promised, really sorry. Every review motivated me to right some more :D I hope you liked this chap, don't hesitate to let me know! I don't know when the next chap will appear, but it WILL appear! So stay tuned ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm really sorry that the updates take so long. The last few months have been so hectic, with school, work and illness. Oh well let's be honest, I'm just the laziest person ever **** Now and then I write some more, but it takes a pretty long time to finish one chapter and be pleased with it.****(perfectionista here) All the lovely reviews were super motivating though, I can't believe so many people like this story so much.  
>Or well, basically my twisted imagination. ;)<strong>

**Anyways, enough with the unimportant chatter. Go read the next chapter!  
><strong>

_I don't own One Piece, obviously._

Sanji hadn't slept a wink. After Robin had taken over for him, so he could get a few hours of sleep, he had gone to his room. He had checked on Luffy, who had still been asleep, and had taken one of the spare beds. It didn't matter how tired or beaten up his body felt, or how much his eyes fought for some much needed rest, his mind wouldn't stop spinning and spinning. The cook just couldn't stop thinking about everything Luffy had said and the images of Zoro raping their captain haunted his vision. He wanted so badly to fall asleep and find some peace, but every time he closed his eyes, that scene would replay in his mind. It was absolute torture. After an hour or two he had given up on getting some rest and decided to just start making breakfast. Cooking always helped him relax. The chopping sound, the delicious smell. He loved turning something simple into something extraordinary. He loved watching all the different ingredients come together and form an explosion of colors and flavors. Delicious perfection. The absolute best part was watching people eat his food. To see the delight on their faces, the giant smiles, the compliments.

Whenever he was cooking, he lost track of time. Nothing mattered. Nothing bothered him. It was just him and the food. All his worries and troubles evaporated when he was creating a gustatory dream. Sanji cooked the whole day. The dishes bigger and better than ever. Some of the crew asked if there was something to be celebrated, but the blond just told them that he was in some crazy cooking mood. They just shrugged and let it go, they really weren't gonna complain about the heavenly meals. For Sanji cooking was therapeutic. It distracted him, kept him from thinking about unnecessary things. Like a certain green-haired, overly hormonal swordsman.

Just like that, the day flew by, and before long it was evening and some people were getting ready to go to bed. For the first time that day Sanji was unoccupied. The girls had withdrawn to their room so he couldn't keep himself busy with serving their every whim. He had done all the dishes and the kitchen was squeaky clean. How could it not be, Sanji had thoroughly cleaned it three times.

He stood on deck, hands buried in his pockets and looked around. Luffy was sitting on the Going Merry's head, just staring into the black veil that surrounded the ship. Throughout the day Sanji had given Luffy some meaningful glances now and then to remind him he had to talk to Zoro. Every time the guy just nodded and averted his eyes. Luffy ended up not talking to Zoro at all. It didn't look like Zoro had noticed yet that Luffy was avoiding him somewhat but Sanji was sure it wouldn't be long before he'd become suspicious of the captain's behavior. After all, Zoro could be creepily perceptive.  
>Sanji didn't see the swordsman anywhere on deck so he had probably already climbed up to the crow's nest and was no doubt fast asleep. Sanji glanced at Usopp and Chopper who were enjoying themselves with metal stuff and made-up stories, and walked towards Luffy. His arms were placed behind him, supporting his upper body. Sanji leaned against the railing right next to the big wooden head Luffy was sitting on and lighted a cigarette. Luffy didn't acknowledge the other's presence and Sanji did nothing to alert the other to his presence. They spent some time like that, not saying anything to each other, for a pretty long time. After the blond lit his fourth cig and blew out the smoke, he finally spoke up.<p>

"You didn't talk to him."

Luffy sighed and hung his head a little. After a few minutes of complete silence Sanji figured that Luffy didn't feel like talking and wasn't going to answer. He was about to leave when Luffy's quiet voice finally broke the silence.

"I couldn't."

In Sanji's eyes Luffy was one of the bravest, strongest and most fearless people he had ever met. When he just joined the crew he thought that Luffy had no weaknesses and there was nothing he couldn't handle. No matter how big the obstacle, he would overcome it. After some time Sanji realized that Luffy's strong point was at the same time Luffy's weakness. His nakama. Luffy wanted nothing more than to go on adventures, seeing new things, having fun. But he wouldn't want any of that without his friends. The adventures, experiences and victories would be meaningless if he couldn't share all of it with the people he held dear. When he fought strong opponents and put his own life on the line, he did it for his friends. His strength is wanting to protect his nakama, no matter what. And that is also his weakness, because having something important makes it easier for the opponent to hit him where it really hurts. If anything were to happen to any of them, Luffy would be devastated. The only thing the rubber boy wanted to avoid at any cost, was losing one of his loved ones. The only time he was afraid, was when he was faced with possibly losing a friend. The current situation between Luffy and Zoro was a complicated one. The young pirate was obviously hurting deep inside and was terrified of losing Zoro. He was torn between protecting himself and protecting their friendship. Sanji understood why Luffy was terrified of talking to Zoro but he still believed it was the right thing to do.  
>He threw his burned up cigarette into the ocean and walked away from the railing.<p>

"It's alright Luffy. You can do this at your own pace as long as you _will_ talk to him eventually. I'm afraid you don't really have a choice."

Sanji turned around and walked away from the captain.

Of course Luffy knew that Sanji was right, they had to talk about this eventually before things started to change. Luffy had already noticed, as much as he hated it, that he did sort of avoid Zoro. That's the last thing he wanted to do and it certainly wasn't a conscious decision. He just found himself keeping some distance.

Luffy was just about to jump of Merry's head and go to his bed but the sudden appearance of a shocking mop of green hair stopped him dead in his tracks.  
>Luffy stared to his right, Zoro was casually leaning against the railing where not too long ago Sanji had stood. He didn't say anything, didn't look at Luffy, for a long time. Luffy averted his eyes back to the pitch black ocean around them, silently wondering what the swordsman might need. When Zoro finally started talking, the low-pitched voice caught the rubber boy by surprise.<p>

"You know you can always talk to me right? I mean, I know you've been talking to the cook, so if you can work things out with his help  
>then it's all good, but just know that we're all here for you."<p>

Luffy had a tiny, but genuine smile plastered to his face. It was such a weird statement coming from Zoro's mouth but it just proved to him once again that he was surrounded by great nakama. He could tell that Zoro himself was not entirely comfortable with being all caring and supportive. But the other had felt like he had to say something to the captain. Zoro had noticed the changes days ago but he was the kind of guy who watched from the sidelines and see how things progressed. He had figured Luffy was having a slight, temporary mood change caused by something, but what exactly, he did not know. Several days had passed and his mood wasn't getting any better, so Zoro decided to have a small talk with him.  
>He looked up at Luffy, relieved to see a tiny smile there.<br>He never imagined it could be possible but that sight was starting to become rare occasion these days.  
>Luffy nodded, "I know."<p>

Zoro pushed himself away from the railing, lightly patted the captain's back and headed back to the crow's nest.  
>Luffy gazed after him until the green haired wordsman disappeared from his sight.<p>

Sanji was making lunch for the crew, while preparing some small snacks and tea for his two favorite ladies in the world. He was silently humming a song he once learned as a child in the Baratie. All the guys there used to sing songs all the time. When he first arrived at the floating restaurant he had hated it with a passion, but the more he learned to love those guys, the more he loved the songs. The blond was in a slightly better mood then the day before, probably because he managed to catch some sleep last night.  
>When the snacks were done, he grabbed them with a big, perverted smile plastered to his face and turned around to please the female pirates. Sanji nearly dropped the plates and barely managed to hold in a surprised squeal.<p>

Zoro was standing in the kitchen.

Sanji hadn't noticed his presence at all, and had almost bumped into him when he turned around. The unexpected appearance of the swordsman made his heart flutter like crazy, though he would _ never_ admit that Zoro had managed to scare the living daylights out of him. Extremely annoyed and ignoring the small blow to his pride, he addressed the swordsman.

"What the hell are you doing here Marimo?!"

Zoro knew that he had surprised Sanji, the cook was too easy to read. Well, it wasn't his fault, he was about to attract his attention when he suddenly turned around, and nearly jumped a foot in the air.

Sanji's annoyance quickly disappeared after he carefully examined Zoro's facial features and body language. This was a kind of Zoro he had never encountered before. This was an insecure Zoro. It baffled Sanji, to say the least. Zoro's facial expression was as always pretty stoic, but there was something in his eyes that made it very obvious to Sanji that emotionally there was a lot going on. Zoro didn't say anything and avoided making eye-contact with the cook. Sanji didn't know what to think anymore. He thought after all the time he has spent with these guys, that he was sure he knew them. But barely three days was all it took to completely change everything.

Sanji and Zoro have always had a love-hate relationship and he would be lying if he said that he didn't care about this simpleminded and often downright infuriating swordsman. He would never wish any harm to befall him and if it came to it he was pretty sure he would even be willing to put his life on the line for this guy. Zoro was without a doubt one of the strongest - seriously is he even human? – men he had ever had the chance to meet in his short life and his dedication and perseverance were nearly unrivaled, but at that moment, in the Going Merry's small kitchen, he looked vulnerable.

Against all odds, Sanji put down the tray of snacks he had prepared for the girls and decided to talk to Zoro first. He even surprised himself there. He very rarely prioritizes anything over a woman. How could you possibly make such a beautiful and perfect creature wait really?! But he did. He was compelled to talk to Zoro, because the other obviously was struggling with something and honestly Sanji was curious as hell. The chances that Zoro was having a mental breakdown at the same time as the captain that had nothing to do with the nightly visits to Luffy's bed were pretty much non-existent. Maybe he would be able to get to the bottom of this and fix the issues between these two.

Zoro followed Sanji's movements with his eyes as the other put down the tray with food, grabbed a cigarette and lighter, lit the thing and put his hands in his pockets. He finally looked up and met the blond's blue eyes. Zoro didn't like these cigarettes at all. It smelled bad and they are bad for your health but then again, he couldn't really imagine Sanji without it. The cook lifted one hand to take the cancer stick out of his mouth, his words accompanied by greyish smoke leaving his mouth.

"I'm gonna ask you again. What are you doing here?"

Sanji could tell that Zoro was hesitating but he also knew for sure that he was going to talk, compared to Luffy. Sanji had a hard time reading the small powerhouse's body language. He was quite unpredictable. Zoro on the other hand was much easier to read. Sanji knew that if he just waited patiently that words would flow out of the other's mouth eventually, but whether the swordsman would tell him the whole truth or not he did not know.

Zoro's eyes scanned the room, his facial expression remained unchanged but Sanji could clearly see the turmoil in his eyes. He started to wonder if Zoro's eyes have always been so expressive. He figured they probably have but he just never noticed it before. Or honestly just never cared to notice it before. Sanji was so deep in thought that the sudden low and hoarse voice took him by surprise. Zoro had started to talk.

"Well, it's kinda obvious that Luffy has been acting a bit different lately and I noticed that you've been talking to him so I just wondered if you knew what was wrong with him."

Sanji just stared at Zoro. Interesting, was the only word he could use to describe that moment. Sanji could tell that Zoro was lying, sort of. The swordsman pretended like he was just a bit curious, but could not really be bothered with any of this, but Sanji knew better. There was definitely something that the swordsman wasn't telling him. Sanji was certain that Zoro knew something or at least maybe suspected something.

He decided to keep it vague. Maybe he could lure out the rest of the story. Sanji, compared to Zoro had a much better poker face. It might not be something to brag about but he was quite good at lying. He casually leaned against the kitchen counter, his face not giving anything away.  
>He might as well have been talking about the weather.<p>

"Yeah, right. We talked about it. He told me what's been bothering him lately and I've been giving him some advice."

Zoro was surprised, it was even visible on his face.  
>A simple, quiet 'I see' followed after some time. Of course his answer wouldn't be satisfying, but Sanji had counted on that.<br>He was just patiently awaiting the next question.

He didn't have to wait very long.

"So what exactly … has been bothering him?"

Sanji had to keep himself from letting his inner smile break out on his face. He would squeeze the truth out of him no matter what.

"I can't say, sorry. He asked me not to talk about it with anyone else. At least for now."

He put on his best apologetic face, shrugging.  
>The disappointment was so evident on Zoro's face but most of all it was the uncertainty that stood out and it stabbed Sanji right in the heart.<br>He sighed and looked down. He heard a very silent 'Oh I see' and then there was just silence. This had to end now. It was obvious to Sanji that two of his nakama were suffering, and it had to stop. When Sanji looked up the swordsman was still there, just staring at a spot on the wall to his left. He kind of looked a bit defeated. Sanji groaned, catching Zoro's attention once again.

"Okay let's cut the crap! I know there's something you're not telling me, so don't you dare to deny it. The situation Luffy is in is a grave one alright! It's serious, so whatever it is you're hiding just spit it out already! We don't have time for this bullshit, you understand! The sooner we solve this shit, the better for all of us!"

Zoro was a little taken aback by Sanji's sudden burst of anger. The blond never raised his voice, in fact, he even lowered it a bit but managed to sound menacing anyways. Sanji observed all the emotions that crossed Zoro's face. From surprise to questioning to uncertain to finally land on defeat. Sanji was insanely curious but also incredibly patient. It took some time but Zoro did talk eventually.

"I don't really know anything to be honest … it's just…"

Zoro hesitated for a really long time so Sanji decided to give him a little push.

"Just what?" his heartbeat sped up a bit.

After taking a deep breath, the swordsman finally continued.

"I had this really weird dream."

"A weird dream?"

"Yeah."

Sanji made a hand gesture that urged him to continue.

"What was it about?"

Zoro once again hesitated a bit but it was obvious they had passed the biggest hurdle and he was able to continue without a push in the right direction.

"Well, I suppose… without having to go into too much detail… basically…I was having sex with Luffy."

Sanji just stared at Zoro for a bit, not commenting, slowly blinking. Sanji was thinking it over but Zoro took his silence the wrong way. He tought he must be shocked, and he must think it's weird, so he felt like he needed to clarify some things.

"I mean, it's weird I know. Trust me it thoroughly freaked me out. I mean… Luffy is my captain and dear friend but I would never … I've never looked at him like that. I …. I don't know …. Why …"

Sanji was flooded with compassion for Zoro. It was clear now that for whatever reason he was doing this to Luffy it probably wasn't a conscious decision.  
>It certainly clarified things but also complicated it a lot.<p>

Zoro fell silent and just stared at Sanji. He was afraid the blond wouldn't understand and was starting to think he'd made a huge mistake by telling the cook.

"How often have you had that dream?"

Zoro was hesitant for a minute. Sanji was just looking at him with anticipation and Zoro couldn't detect any disgust or hatred. It lifted his spirit a bit and gave him just enough confidence to continue talking.

"Just once."

"Last night?"

Zoro nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

Sanji nodded as well, Zoro could see he was thinking things over.

"Do you remember any details?"

"Details? Like what?"

Sanji made a dismissive gesture, "Like how Luffy behaved for example."

Zoro looked around for a bit and hesitated once again. The fact that Sanji asked that freaked him out a bit, because that was exactly the thing that had worried him from the start. He himself had felt like Luffy's behavior in his dream had been odd. It was the thing that scared him the most.

He glanced back at Sanji who raised his eyebrows ( or well the visible one), giving Zoro the go-on-face.  
>Zoro gave up, he might as well tell him since a small part of him started thinking that maybe Sanji already knew.<br>He didn't want to think about it but he couldn't help it.

His gut was telling him something was very wrong.

"He didn't really do anything. Just … stared at the wall. Completely unresponsive."

Sanji didn't look at him, he was just staring at the kitchen counter with a barely visible pained expression on his face.

Zoro's heart was suddenly filled with dread. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want it to be true.

It couldn't be true. He couldn't have done something like that. There's no way… right?

Zoro needed to know. Even though he was already pretty sure what the answer would be, he had to ask.  
>And he couldn't stop that tiny part of him hoping, wishing, begging that Sanji would say what he wanted to hear.<p>

Yes, it was just a dream.

"It wasn't just a dream, was it?"

Sanji looked him in the eye with a sadness in his eyes that Zoro had never seen before.

"No, it wasn't."

And for the first time in what felt like ages, for the first time since Zoro was a child and lost his best friend and rival,

He wanted to cry.

**A/N: Aaah well, that was it for now. Sorry you had to wait so long and I hope you liked the new chap. I will try and update sooner, but exams are coming up so I don't know. You probably won't see any new chaps 'till February but who knows ;) thanx for the support, it really did motivate me to write. **


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